The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-08-27

secret in his life-a secret that he do
sired TO concealp"
NO." responded the Austrian. 'ant
am now here to give it, all the more
willingly, since you retained him il
your service upon simple attestation
from me in spite of the mystery that sur
rounded him. The uniform. the epau-
lets, the medals and decorations were
his by right. and he was justly entitled
to them, having won them CALAMITY as ;
soldier. One fault alone lost him every
thing: he has nobly expiated it. how
ever, as you will acknowledge when
tell you all. Muller was no other thar
Henri de ", my elder brother. There
is nothing extraordinary in his story
save that which You already know, and
the fact that he was still very youth
full soldier when he gained the rank
and the distinctions the decorations Of
which you have seen.
"His military advancement had been
so rapid. indeed, that my father had
reason to believe that he would finally
attain the highest honor in the gift Of
the State. Unfortunately my brother,
suffering from a wound received in q
battle at which he had again distin-
guishcd himself. was compelled to take
the waters of Carlsbad for his recovery.
There, surrounded by a number of our
friends and compatriots of unlimited
means and extravaganza. he found
himself plunged into the maelstrom Of
play that RACES in that rendezvous day
and night. Forgetting that he had
only the pay of Colonel to depend
upon, Henri was speedily drawn into
games Of chance with partners WIN
certainly possessed more wealth than
he, but far less honesty. The end you
can guess.
Before a month had passed he was
ruined and .saddled with the obliga-
tons which the world calls 'debts Of
honor" yet are of all debts the least
honorable. Perhaps had my brother
been older, the necessity for acquit-
ting them Immediately would not
have seemed so urgent Perhaps to
repair them he would never have re-
sorted to crime. but in his despair and
inexperience he lost his head, and be-
lieving that until his promises to pay
had been made good he was the scorn
and by-word of his companions, he
yielded to temptation and forged the
name of our father, at that time man
of large credit throughout Germany.
"Cashing this fraudulent paper he
was soon at liberty, but scarcely was
the crime committed when he realized
its cnormity, and without stopping to
think, distracted with grief and shame.
my brother, profting by his leave Of
absence, departed from Carlsbad and
from his country. My father, Ignorant
of what had occurred, and incensed a.
the use of his name, was furious when
the lettres dc change which they had
drawn upon him began to come in, and
refusing to acknowledge the signatures,
pursued as forgers those who had pre-
sented them. In tracing them from
hand to hand, it was not long before
he discovered from whom they had
originated, and you can picture his de-
spair when he found it was his own son
who had issued them, and that he, his
father, had publicly dishonored him by
the inquiry set on foot. Satisfied Of
this, notwithstanding his anger. my
father sacrificed his entire fortune to
acquit these bills, and was even dis
posed to pardon Henri, when he learned
the circumstances that had hurried him
into crime. But all our researches to
discover him were useless; my brother
had disappeared. Not even the adver-
tisements constantly inserted in the pa
pers, to the effect that Comte de V. had
made mistake in denying the sigma
tures-that he admitted the bills and
had acquitted them as presented
brought us any response. If alive Henri
had certainly seen them, and knowing
that his honor was unstained would
surely return to us. Time passed on,
however, yet he did not return, and at
last we came to believe him dead, that
perhaps in his despair and remorse he
had putan end to his life.
"You remember my establishment
when l recognized him rs the servant
at your table, and that he, no more
than !, could conceal his emotion.
After dinner, as you also remember. ]
went to see him, resolved to force him
to return to his family. The idea that
he had killed himself to escape dishon-
or had long appeascd the Indignation
of my father; knew that he longcd for
his return. But Henri was infexible;
resume name that he had shown HIM
self unworthy to bear he positively
would not, and was forced to promise
not only never to reveal the secret to
you rs long as he lived, but to con-
tinuc to conceal the fact Of his exist
ence from my father; it was useless to
renew blow and grief that time had